Brick-kiln



(No Model.)

H. H. HILLIS.

BRICK KILN.

No. 461,479. Patented Oct. 20, 1891.

' Suva who's 9 @W 3% 3% M flbbozwev I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC HENRY H. HILLIS, OF GREENCASTLE, INDIANA.

BRICK-KILN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,479, dated October 20, 1891. Application filed December 29, 1890. Serial No. 376,190. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY H. HILLIs, of Greencastle, county of Putnam, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and use-' ful Improvements. in Brick and Tile Kilns; and 1 do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like figures refer to like parts.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of open kilns for burning brick and tile, and will be understood from the following description.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a cross-section on the line y y, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a section on the line w m, Fig. 1.

In detail, 1 are the side and 2 are the end walls of the kiln, having the usual fire arches 3.

Above the arches the brick are simplylaid up in any convenient manner, so as to form loose joints and facilitate the upward draft of the heat through the mass of material to be burned. Above the top layer of the bricks is formed a series of transverse fiues 5 directly below the roof 6, as shown in Fig. 2, and these connect directly with the extensions or chimneys 7 of the side walls, forming a series of vertical flues 8 or a single flue of the entire width of the side wall of the kiln. There may be one or more of these transverse flues, and they may be constructed in any suitable manner and supported by iron bars or in any other suitable manner directly above the material to be burned and extend clear across the kiln, terminating in and connecting directly with the vertical flues 8 on each sideof the kiln and forming a direct draft both from the arches below and from the heated chambers above to the open air. The roof 6 is composed of a layer of brick 9, which rest. directly upon the bricks of the kiln below and are supported thereby, as shown in Fig. 2. Above this layer is one of mortar or plaster 10, closing the joints between the bricks 9, and above the plaster is a layer of from four to six inches of sand to prevent loss of heat by radiation and to close the roof tightly.

As ordinarily constructed brick-kilns are platted or covered on top with a course of brick laid with loose joints in order to allow the .heat to escape directly into the open air. In kilns where this form of platting is adopted for covering the-top it is found that in some places the roof is more tightly sealed than in others, and the heat and gas do not escape evenly, for the bricks when set in the kiln are not of a uniform dryness, and in places where the bricks are driest there is a better draft, and consequently more heat, and where the bricks are not so dry a downward draft often results, so that in those places the bricks are not so well burned as where they are drier, and indeed these bricks are often almost worthless. These places where the bricks do not burn are commonly called cold spots in the kiln, and in order to remedy the difliculty it has been quite acommon custom to build fires directly over these cold spots upon the top of the kiln in order to secure heat enough at that point to start an updraft and thus secure a thorough burning of the brick at those places. This manner, however, of remedying the difficulty by building fires on the outside of the kiln is not only wasteful of fuel, but it is objectionable for many reasons, andI have, therefore, sought to avoid the necessity of these outside fires and prevent the downward draft through the material at'the cold spots and secure the burning of the brick uniformly throughout the kiln, and I have therefore made the roof tight to prevent radiation of heat and have formed additional heating-chambers directly beneath the roof above the material connecting with the flues leading to the open air, as hereinbefore described.

The horizontal fines herein shown are about six inches wide by ten inches high, and when the kiln is built,and before the roof is laid on, fuelwill be introduced into these transverse chambers to aid in burning the uppercourses of brick. The eifect of the tightly-closed roof is to prevent the wasteful radiation or escape of heat, and the fires in the chambers below the roof not only create additional heat themselves, but they secure a much better upward draft from the fires in the arches below, and the heat being thus turned directly up throughthe material laid up in loose joints, as before mentioned, into these heated chambers is not allowed to escape except through the flues at the ends, so

that a perfect draft at all parts of the kiln is secured.

WVhen the kiln has been pretty thoroughly burned, it is my practice to close the tops of the flues Sand thus seal the upper heat chambers and allow the kiln to stand thus for from SIX to twelve hours with light firing and thus complete the burning of the upper courses, which in ordinary kilns are soft, and known as salmon brick, and these either bring a much less price or are thrown aside altogether.

In operation my invention secures what has heretofore been greatly desiredviz., a clear and unobstructed draft, whereby the heat is retained clear to the top of the kiln, so that the percentage of front brick is largely increased and at the same time the quantity of fuel is reduced and the Waste heat is utilized to dry the brick in succeeding kilns instead of being wasted. The fuel placed in the upper heat-chamberwill be set on fire from the heat below and will be gradually and entirely consumed without waste or loss. securinga powerful and steady heat above the upper layers of brick in the kiln, makingthem uniform and perfectly hard as the rest of the kiln.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following: A brick-kiln having the usual side and end walls with tire-arches below, the brick above the arches laid up with loose joints, so as to allow a direct draft upward through the material, the top of the kiln covered by a tight roof to prevent the escape of the heat, and

one or more fire-chambers formed below the roof and above the material to be burned, such fire-chambers opening at the ends directly into flues extending upward from the side walls of the kiln, providing a directdraft 

